Understanding dark side personality at work: Distinguishing and reviewing nonlinear, interactive, differential, and reciprocal effects

Abstract

The topic of dark side personality at work has received considerable research attention over the past decade, and both qualitative and quantitative reviews of this field have already been published. To show the relevance of dark personality in the work context, existing reviews have typically focused on systematically discussing the different criteria that have been linked to dark traits (e.g., job performance, work attitudes, leadership emergence, etc.). In contrast, and complementing this earlier work, the current review paper summarizes the available literature on this topic by structuring it in terms of the nature of the relationships studied rather than in terms of the types of outcome variables. Doing so, the focus shifts from "What are the outcomes of dark traits?" to "How are dark traits related to work outcomes?" Scrutinizing the nature of these relationships, we specifically focus on four types of effects (i.e., nonlinear, interactive, differential, and reciprocal) that highlight the complexity of how dark side traits operate in the work context. Structured this way, this review first provides a conceptual underpinning of each of these complex effects, followed by a summary of the empirical literature published over the past 10 years. To conclude, we present an integration of this field, provide suggestions for future research, and highlight concrete assessment challenges.

The Relationship between Machiavellianism and Organizational Citizenship Behavior “An applied study on Mansoura University Employees”

“…Moreover, previous studies found that Machiavellianism is positively related to counterproductive work behaviors and causes a range of undesirable work outcomes (Stoica, 2021;Wille et al, 2022;Elsawyet al, 2022;Barry, 2020;Younus et al, 2020). Additionally, Machiavellianism associated positively with burnout and its components (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment), and negatively with general job satisfaction, life satisfaction, ethical behaviors, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, whistleblowing actions which are beneficial for the organization to achieve its goals, workplace spirituality, Organizational Trust Grover & Furnham, 2020).…”

Dark leadership: una aproximación al estudio de liderazgos tóxicos y su impacto en la industria hotelera.

“…Entre las causas de la aparición de estos liderazgos destacan determinados factores personales, como los propios rasgos de personalidad negativa de los líderes (la "dark personality", estudiada por Hogan y Hogan (2001) con su Manual diagnóstico y estadístico de trastornos mentales IV (DMS-IV) y por la perspectiva de la triada oscura o "dark triad" introducida por Paulhus y Williams (2002) (Wille et al, 2023)) -y la de los seguidores, predisponiéndolos a participar en estos procesos de manera activa. Otros estudios han explorado la importancia del contexto en el surgimiento de estos estilos de liderazgo, señalando así factores situacionales del entorno interno y externo de las organizaciones -como la falta de mecanismos de control, la complejidad y dinamismo de la industria, la inestabilidad y percepciones de amenaza o los valores culturales dominantes (Thoroughgood et al, 2018).…”

Reciprocal relationships between narcissism and agentic versus communal work activities across the first 6 years of the career.

“…Importantly, systematic reviews of this literature (e.g., Woods et al, 2019) have indicated an exclusive focus on the so-called bright-side (e.g., Big Five) traits when investigating personality development in work-related contexts, which means that the development of dark-side traits such as narcissism in conjunction with work experiences is still poorly understood (Wille et al, 2023). Although there is by now substantial evidence that also narcissism continues to develop and change once adulthood is reached (Barlett & Barlett, 2015; Carlson & Gjerde, 2009; Chopik & Grimm, 2019; Foster et al, 2003; Grosz et al, 2019; Klimstra et al, 2020; Orth & Luciano, 2015; Roberts et al, 2010; Wetzel et al, 2020; Wille et al, 2019), scant research has explored the role of work-related experiences in this developmental process.…”